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OECD Health Working Papers

This series is designed to make available to a wider readership health studies prepared for use within the OECD. Authorship is usually collective, but principal writers are named. The papers are generally available only in their original language - English or French - with a summary in the other.

Projet OCDE sur la migration des professionnels de santé

Le cas de la France

This report examines health workforce demographics in France, together with recent trends in
migration policies regarding health professionals. It also analyses workforce planning and the possible role
of the recruitment of foreign health workers in coming years.

Workforce trends in the 1990s were marked by restrictions governing the training of doctors and
nurses. Since then, training capacities have expanded significantly, and France is now on a par with the
European average and above the OECD-wide average in terms of density of doctors. The available figures
show that the international recruitment of health professionals does not play a decisive role in France. A
large share of foreign-trained health workers come from EU countries, in particular because of the
European legislation aimed at facilitating recognition of diplomas of EU nationals for most health
professions. Non-EU diplomas, however, are subject to tighter restrictions laid down by French
legislation, which limits access to the profession. Foreign-trained doctors and nurses are primarily
employed in hospitals....